Everyone knows that mashing the gas, slamming on the brakes and cruising at high speeds kills fuel economy. And considering the average driver spends upwards of $3,000 a year on gas, you'd think people would be more inclined to change their driving behavior. But it's like exercise: We all know we should do it, but we don't have proper motivation. Automatic wants to change that.
Automatic is a hardware and app combo that works like FitBit for your car, helping you keep tabs on your fuel economy, speed and other information you need to make better, more fuel-efficient decisions behind the wheel. It brings the "quantifiable self" movement popularized by wearables like the FitBit, Jawbone UP and Nike FuelBand to the automotive world.
"[Drivers] are getting zero information about how they're spending their money," Automatic’s CEO and founder Thejo Kote told Wired. "They're not getting any feedback."
By plugging a small dongle into the diagnostics port of your car (standard on every U.S. vehicle since 1996), Automatic sends everything from fuel economy data to check-engine-light information over low-power Bluetooth 4.0 to a beautifully crafted app for the iPhone 4S and 5. With that info in hand, drivers can find out how much that trip across town cost them in fuel, their average speed on the way to grandma's and what that damn light on the dashboard means.
"We wanted to build a product for any car owner with a smartphone," Kote says. Any car owner with an iPhone, that is. Look for Android in the fall.
We spent a little time with Automatic and were impressed. In addition to fuel economy data, you can also scan your car's on-board diagnostic system for faults and identify the code, search for that code on the web to find a solution and then clear the code yourself, all wirelessly. The dongle also notes when you park your car and turn off the ignition, then drops a pin on your GPS location so you can find your car in a crowded parking lot. Since the dongle can support multiple users, you don't have to explain to your significant other exactly where you left the car in the airport garage.
Automatic wanted to keep the hardware and app inexpensive and accessible, with Kote saying the target was no more "than an average fill-up" at the pump. It pretty much hit that mark with pre-orders beginning today for $69.95 through the company's website.
The hardware is expected to ship in May. Automatic hopes its little dongle will make it to big-box retailers later this year.
